2020/21 VC Owners thread

[Woodsplitter67]

Are you using the rear heat shield?

why are u asking about the heat shield..

 

[Diabel]

This is strange. You put a new cat in, cleaned the pipe and the stove. As I said earlier, the refractory box has to have air inlet and outlet. You have to figure out how to access these outlet. I am pretty sure they are on the bottom right and left side of the box. On the 2550 i can access these with a flexible 1” vacuum hose via the bypass. And there is always quite of debris.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

why are u asking about the heat shield..

If you remove it we can have a better idea of how the secondary air is supplied and regulated.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

This is strange. You put a new cat in, cleaned the pipe and the stove. As I said earlier, the refractory box has to have air inlet and outlet. You have to figure out how to access these outlet. I am pretty sure they are on the bottom right and left side of the box. On the 2550 i can access these with a flexible 1” vacuum hose via the bypass. And there is always quite of debris.

I have found it to be easier to leave an andiron loose so it is easily removable in order to remove the lower fireback. Just pop the two wedges out, pull the lower fire back out and you have full access to the refractory box. I to have vacuumed all kinds of crap out from the sides of the refrac box where it exhausts.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Ok I’m looking at the manual for the 2040 trying to figure out the secondary air system. This stove is a completely different design than my 2250. I wondering if the 2040 has a fixed flow rate for the secondary air. Looking at the manual it appears there are several holes in the fireback which if memory served me correctly someone on this forum in years past plugged some of these holes with machine screws to regulate secondary air. Upon a quick skim of the manual it looks like the refractory system has a removable panel and cover to access the back of the stove in order to clean the ash away from the channels of exhaust flow. Do you clean top down or stove side up?

 

[Diabel]

@RandyBoBandy
No need to remove anything in order to clean the behind the fireback area. Just as I mentioned, use a 1” flexible vacuum hose. 2min job.
Yes, I remember someone plugging these hole, but that was a fast burn rate issue. This member has a issue with not enough air.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Last night when I got home I took apart the stove... Very easy to work on.. all the bolts came out with out any issue.. thank the lord.... I took the left side aire manifold out.. I vacuumed out the body of the stove from the LHS.. I did the LHS because the glass on that side was dirty and the LHS of the box seemed to lack flame.. I fully vacuumed the stove, cleaned the secondary air holes in the front, removed the cat and vacuumed the entire area again, inspected fireback, reassembled and ran the stove.. Last night the fire was more even through the box and I checked to see if I had control of the fire with the air .. and I did.. no leaks... I loaded up the stove some and got the secondary going... found another issue.... IR gun malfunction.. reading to hot.. temp on stove is 350.. gun says 700... Broke out replacement gun... Last night cat was 1150.. went no less than 1050.. no higher than 1285.. woke up this morning glass was a little tinted.. and an even color across the glass. Loaded up the stove this morning glass came clean and cat is sitting a 1k..
I want to thank all on here who has replied and tried to help. I really do appreciate any time for your replies and any research you did..
I'll keep you posted on how things are going..

 

[Blackcat]

We’ve had our VC 2040 Encore for about 5 years now. I’ve had to replace the catalyst a few years ago- it just disintegrated.
The other day when I had a fire going, I hear a “rolling” sound and then a puff of smoke come out around the doors. I opened the damper and let the fire just burn out.
I took the back panel out yesterday to check the catalyst, which seemed fine, just blew out some crud, but the refractory stone seems like it’s deteriorating. I vacuumed anything that was under the catalyst.
The wood I use is definitely dry, but maybe too dry? The stove didn’t come with a cat probe. I close the damper when griddle temp hits 450-ish.
I’m posting a picture of what the stone looks like. Is this normal wear and tear or something to be concerned about?
Hoping to get a fire going today

 

[Blackcat]

We’ve had our VC 2040 Encore for about 5 years now. I’ve had to replace the catalyst a few years ago- it just disintegrated.
The other day when I had a fire going, I hear a “rolling” sound and then a puff of smoke come out around the doors. I opened the damper and let the fire just burn out.
I took the back panel out yesterday to check the catalyst, which seemed fine, just blew out some crud, but the refractory stone seems like it’s deteriorating. I vacuumed anything that was under the catalyst.
I’m posting a picture of what the stone looks like. Is this normal wear and tear or something to be concerned about?
Hoping to get a fire going today

 

[Woodsplitter67]

We’ve had our VC 2040 Encore for about 5 years now. I’ve had to replace the catalyst a few years ago- it just disintegrated.
The other day when I had a fire going, I hear a “rolling” sound and then a puff of smoke come out around the doors. I opened the damper and let the fire just burn out.
I took the back panel out yesterday to check the catalyst, which seemed fine, just blew out some crud, but the refractory stone seems like it’s deteriorating. I vacuumed anything that was under the catalyst.
I’m posting a picture of what the stone looks like. Is this normal wear and tear or something to be concerned about?
Hoping to get a fire going today

Thats normal... eventually it will need to be replaced.. The entire refractory and cover will go.. After all the hours it runs and the kind of heat going through it.. it will pit...

 

[RandyBoBandy]

So is there any regulation to the secondary air or is it a fixed flow rate? On the 2040 that is.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

So is there any regulation to the secondary air or is it a fixed flow rate? On the 2040 that is.

I haven't pulled apart my stove fully... it seams that the air come in frome the primary air intake at the back of the stove and gets divided up... some for primary air and some for secondary air..there's not alot on the net regarding specs

 

[Jimmy C]

We’ve had our VC 2040 Encore for about 5 years now. I’ve had to replace the catalyst a few years ago- it just disintegrated.
The other day when I had a fire going, I hear a “rolling” sound and then a puff of smoke come out around the doors. I opened the damper and let the fire just burn out.
I took the back panel out yesterday to check the catalyst, which seemed fine, just blew out some crud, but the refractory stone seems like it’s deteriorating. I vacuumed anything that was under the catalyst.
I’m posting a picture of what the stone looks like. Is this normal wear and tear or something to be concerned about?
Hoping to get a fire going today

Not super familiar with the 2040 but I have heard the scaling that your seeing is caused from over firing. A secondary probe would help you know for sure.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

To the brim Can’t get any fuller than that boys.

 

[Diabel]

To the brim Can’t get any fuller than that boys.

Perfect fit for overnight burn.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Perfect fit for overnight burn.

I love it when they just fall into place like that. It definitely doesn’t happen every time. This is why I pay very close attention when I’m bucking and splitting.

 

[Diabel]

I love it when they just fall into place like that. It definitely doesn’t happen every time. This is why I pay very close attention when I’m bucking and splitting.

Same here. The Princess is so much easier to load.
Yet, I still have a soft spot for my VC.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

If I could put an ashford on my hearth I would in a heartbeat. I agree though, my encore has been a solid heater and I am very attached to it.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

My wood was all the way to the top last night.. just couldn't get the top quite closed.. had to give a little shake and got the pile down enough to get her closed. I was looking a blaze king when we were in the market for a stove.. the wife didn't like the looks.. Im not disappointed in my vc stove at all.. iv grown quite attached to it..

 

[RandyBoBandy]

My wood was all the way to the top last night.. just couldn't get the top quite closed.. had to give a little shake and got the pile down enough to get her closed. I was looking a blaze king when we were in the market for a stove.. the wife didn't like the looks.. Im not disappointed in my vc stove at all.. iv grown quite attached to it..

How is the stove burning after cleaning it? I studied the parts brake down for a solid 45 minutes the other night and what I’m assuming is the secondary air is regulated through the same hole as the primary air. I’m still not sure how the air channels are divided yet.

 

[Jimmy C]

To the brim Can’t get any fuller than that boys.

Nice! How many Splits? I've noticed 4 splits and I rarely ever get over 1550, 5 splits and I may get close to 1700 but usually peak before that. 6 splits or more however and I ALWAYS over-fire.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

How is the stove burning after cleaning it? I studied the parts brake down for a solid 45 minutes the other night and what I’m assuming is the secondary air is regulated through the same hole as the primary air. I’m still not sure how the air channels are divided yet.

its running great.. the air comes in the back and goes through some ports in the body up into the air manifolds and out the air wash on the doors.. the air.. it gets divided between primary and secondary.. and comes out the wholes at the fireback..last night the cat at 1250 when first engaged and it settled in at 1050 to 1080 after the aire was cut all the way.. full load ran like that for hours.. glass stayed pretty clean.. had some tint this morning.. but burned right off.... with probably 20k hours on it.. most likely had some buildup in the air passage inside the stove body...

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Nice! How many Splits? I've noticed 4 splits and I rarely ever get over 1550, 5 splits and I may get close to 1700 but usually peak before that. 6 splits or more however and I ALWAYS over-fire.

no matter how much wood I put in my stove it doesn't overfire. Your cat temp is getting to high.. Id cut the primary air back sooner that what you doing.. or... your splits are small and to much is catching and your gassing off all at once.. try the largest splits for over night.. I packed my stove last night... like 50lbs of wood and it was only 5 splits..

 

[Jimmy C]

no matter how much wood I put in my stove it doesn't overfire. Your cat temp is getting to high.. Id cut the primary air back sooner that what you doing.. or... your splits are small and to much is catching and your gassing off all at once.. try the largest splits for over night.. I packed my stove last night... like 50lbs of wood and it was only 5 splits..

Bigger splits seems like the solution. I've been splitting bigger pieces since last year so hopefully will have a lot more bigger splits next year. Although, I feel like my problem is mechanical as well as operational. Even when I use 5 large oak splits that fill the entire box, I sometimes get into the low 1700's. Usually I can keep the peak under or around 1600, but not always. I am definitely shutting down as early as possible. I start closing at 600 when I can see a proper take off. Usually have it all the way closed by 1100 but sometimes this causes secondary to drop back to 800-900 and hang there for a while. Usually I see smoke coming out of the chimney when this happens as well. I try and make sure temp is still rising before closing all the way.

I am starting to think my bimetallic coil that controls the air shutter for the secondary needs to be replaced. Is there a way to check if its working properly? I was going to just open that plate in the back and put a mirror back there to see if I can watch it working correctly while stove is running.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Bigger splits seems like the solution. I've been splitting bigger pieces since last year so hopefully will have a lot more bigger splits next year. Although, I feel like my problem is mechanical as well as operational. Even when I use 5 large oak splits that fill the entire box, I sometimes get into the low 1700's. Usually I can keep the peak under or around 1600, but not always. I am definitely shutting down as early as possible. I start closing at 600 when I can see a proper take off. Usually have it all the way closed by 1100 but sometimes this causes secondary to drop back to 800-900 and hang there for a while. Usually I see smoke coming out of the chimney when this happens as well. I try and make sure temp is still rising before closing all the way.

I am starting to think my bimetallic coil that controls the air shutter for the secondary needs to be replaced. Is there a way to check if its working properly? I was going to just open that plate in the back and put a mirror back there to see if I can watch it working correctly while stove is running.

sometimes what we see coming out of the chimney is not smoke... if its white to a very light gray.. off whiteish...your good to go.. I used to think that if its burning properly you will see nothing... but thats just not the case all the time..